Essex Lion is just one of Britain's beasts

reports of panthers, leopards and other exotic mammals and birds at loose in the UK are no longer uncommon

Stories of escaped animals and exotic sightings have gripped the nation over the years.

From wild boars in Kent to wallabies in Oxfordshire, more unusual creatures could be prowling the UK than people think.

According to the British Big Cats Society (BBCS), which monitors all sightings, reports of panthers, leopards and other exotic mammals and birds at loose in the UK are no longer uncommon.

Some experts blame the great storm of 1987 that ravaged animal enclosures and allowed many exotic species to escape and breed in the wild.

There is now a population of more than 1,000 wild boars in Kent and thousands of parakeets in London and Surrey.

The BBCS logs more than 2,000 reports of big cat sightings in the UK every year.

Residents in Devon have been reporting sightings of a puma-like creature for almost three decades.

The Beast of Exmoor is thought to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of sheep, while other recent big cat scares include the Beast of Burnham, seen in Norfolk in 2009, and the Beast of Blue Bell Hill, which is still thought to be roaming the Kent countryside.

Meanwhile Buckinghamshire and neighbouring Oxfordshire have a large population of wild wallabies, with nearly 30 sightings reported in recent years.

And in both March and June last year, Natural England reported confirmed sightings of wild raccoons in Holsworthy, Devon, and Eastley, Hampshire.

There were also unconfirmed reports of a kangaroo on the loose in Exeter, Devon.